ZooLights

Christmas Calender 25th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number twenty-five:

"We could not be able to perceive miracles, if they had not have ever happened."

(Translated by me)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Calender 24th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number twenty-four:

"Gifts: To enemy forgiveness. To opponent tolerance. To friends your heart. To every child a good example. To yourself respect."

(translated by me)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Homefront

Wow! I really thought I had written this already. Well apparently I had not. So I have seen this about 1,5 months ago I think. You know Jason Statham? Yes! So you know what type of movies he usually does. Lots of action and not so much plot. Well be prepared to be surprised! The Homefront actually has a plot, and instead of being action after action, there are real moments in between. With real moments I mean that Mr. Statham has to actually act and not just through punches. Do not worry, he does that too!

Anyway, for those action loving freaks this movie might be a bit disappointing as it does not have that much action. I actually got a bit bored as I had expected that there were a lot more action. Based on the trailer that I had seen, I expected the events that took place in the last 30 mins of the movie to be the start of the movie. So clearly the advertising department decided to go with the strengths of Mr. Statham instead of with the plot of the movie. It is so annoying when they do that... I liked the movie, don't get me wrong! Just the expectations were totally wrong and the movie was not what I went to see, if you know what I mean. I still would have gone to see it, if they would have advertised it from the plot point of view. 

Well basically all I needed to know was that Mr. Statham was in it, and I was sold. Just annoying when the trailer gives you an idea of what to expect and then noting like that happens. It is better not to know anything of the movie, if you ask me. 

Christmas Calender 23rd hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number twenty-three:

"There may be times, when you receive help from no-one but there is no such time that you could not help others."

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 22nd hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number twenty-two:

"Christmas candle is a wonderful thing: it does not keep noise, but quietly gives itself by getting smaller fully unselfishly."
-Eva K. Logue

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 21st hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number twenty-one:

"There are ones that stay and others who leave. Everyone can choose themselves, but the decision has to be made in time and never should they give up."
-Tove Jansson

(Translated by me)

Baking cookies!

Some are in the oven

A little bit left

One bowl almost full

Other bowl already full :)

Christmas Calender 20th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number twenty:

"Clean conscience is like continuous Christmas"

(translated by me) 

Christmas Calender 19th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number nineteen:

"Laughter stimulates bloodstream, puffs out chest, laces nerves, blows out the spider webs in the brain and does a housecleaning to the entire body. Try. Now."

(Translated by me)

Christmas Calender 18th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number eighteen:

"Held your head high, but your nose at a friendly level"

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 17th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number seventeen:

"By admiring we will learn more than by criticizing"

(translated by me) 

Christmas Calender 16th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number sixteen:

"Happy is the human whom can laugh at themselves. They will not run out of fun."

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 15th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number fifteen:

"Hoping means, that every moment you are ready for that, which hasn't been born yet" -Erich Fromm

(translated by me. So this sounds so silly. I am not sure if it is originally translated correctly, but from the finnish version this is what I understood.)

Christmas Calender 14th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number fourteen:

"Ensure a successful day by relaxing for a moment and purposely drop happy thoughts to your mind"

(translated by me)

Finding the silver lining

I found a silica gel from my bag, so I am able to use it to dry my phone. I also received a packet from my sister in law containing Christmas gifts and some packing paper. I am using the paper also to dry my phone. I do not get any papers delivered here, so I actually would not have had anything to dry the phone with. I could use the tissue etc. but then I would have had to be changing it all the time or let the phone sit in moisture. Of course I used cotton balls to dry it up first, and then I left it on top of my radiator to dry. It is not very strong heath, so I dared to leave it. I have left my phone there many occasions. 

I have not Karelian pastries to eat and comfort me. My friends mother made woolen socks for me (well she made them and then when I came to visit my friend yesterday, they gave them for me as a gift). I am able to be without my phone for a day now. Usually I check it quite often. Now I am just updating my blog... Well yes this gives me the time to write my last paper for this year. One last paper not counting the thesis for the entire semester is due in January. So not all bad. Something good in all of this. 

Having a bad day? Or two?

I went to bake with a friend of mine yesterday. I had quite flexible time table when I would be arriving, so when I woke up almost at nine o'clock I wasn't worried that I missed my first option. I ate breakfast as I knew I would be starving when I arrive at my friends place as the journey takes about two hours. I took some satsumas as snack. I was able to buy the Go-ticket without any trouble and had few minutes extra so I went to wait for the train. To my surprise a train stopped at the wrong track and you can understand my anger when I realized that it was my train. So I missed the train as the person who sold the ticket did not tell me that the train would use the one and same track that it always uses. Luckily there was another one coming in 30 minutes so I did not have to stay there and wait too long.

The problem was that my connecting bus only left once in an hour, so I had to wait 30 minutes extra at Burlington. Bus was luckily on time and warm, as the "station" in Burlington was not heated. So I stood there as there was no way I wanted to get an infection by sitting on cold steel bench. So warmth was highly welcomed. When we went to the first stop, I wondered why we were moving so slow. We were stuck on traffic, but it was not a normal rush hour traffic. Once we had traveled the distance that normally takes about 5 minutes in 25 minutes, I saw that they had cut a certain section of the road and were working on it (well working is too strong of a word there were about 7 people just standing and watching around... ). So the traffic had to go around the route that the bus took and there were a lot of cars. 

Finally having arrived to my destination, I had to walk to my friends home. It was snowing quite a lot there which it had not done in Toronto. So I was a bit surprised. Not worried, just turned my trouser legs a bit up, so that I would be a bit drier. In the first intersection, I just stood and waited for the light to change. To my surprise the light never changed because the button to send the request was jammed. Other surprise was, that as people are responsible for their own piece of sidewalk, not that many had bothered. So I had to walk through quite high pile of snow (one thing that I miss about Finland). Luckily that was all for the journey to my friend. I was only 1,5 hours late from my very flexible time table. 

Then on my way back, I did not miss my bus or the train. They both were running on time. Well the train was running on time until it got the second to last stop. There we just stood and waited. It was cold outside... Freezing cold. Oh, and while we just stood and waited, the doors were held open. So the passengers had to wait in freezing cold. Two police officers did walk through the entire train, but that is all I saw. No explanation other than we are having an issue, was given. We waited over 20 minutes in that stop. It was in middle of the night! Eventually the doors closed and we moved on, and the train picked up some pissed of passengers and drop few equally pissed off passengers. 

That was bad day. Today I decided to go out and take pictures of snow falling and it being all snowy and white. Well while I went to took pictures of the birds, I accidentally dropped my phone to the lake. Of course I dashed after it, as it was quite close by the shore. I was able to pick it up but I had to put my shoe into slosh. So now I do not have a working whatsapp which is my usually communication way with friends. I am traveling in few days to Pensacola, and I need to be able to talk to my friend to let her know where I am. My sim is not compatible with my other finnish phone. It is compatible with my work phone, but that is very simple text and call only. I think I will have to use it, if I am not able to dry my phone. 

I must have something really special ahead of me, because of this bad luck. I do believe that in the end it all is evened out, just have to be patient and not say no to the possible good thing. 

Christmas Calender 13th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number thirteen:

"Write to your heart, that every day is the best day of the year." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

(translated by me)

How many hours in a week?

Well there are 168 hours in one week, every week.

From those I use 37,5 hours to work. On average I use 56 hours to sleep. In class I spent 3 hours per week. Other school stuff I spent about 25 hours. Making something to eat and eating takes about 14 hours per week. Shower and bathroom usage about 7 hours. About 3 hours for groceries and 3 hours for cleaning and dishes. This leaves me 19,5 hours per week to do what I want: watch movies, TV-series, relax, etc. If I go watch a movie, it will take about 5-6 hours when you include the distance from home to theater, wondering about in downtown and eating something. What is left is not that much per day. Some weeks I do more school stuff, and the free time gets lower.

Then I have school friends who have children and have to travel to work. They basically have no free time, as the travel and taking care of the children will eat it all up. I really admire how they can dedicate to the studies. At least I get to have some free time, when we do not need to write papers i.e. just after finishing one. I get along quite well with few of my classmates and we are supporting each other to finish this school. It is so nice to have the support and understanding for the school. I don't think all my friends actually realize how hard work the school has been with the work, so it is good to get the support somewhere. 

Christmas Calender 12th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number twelve:

"Value yourself and you will be a gift for anyone who you will meet."

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 11th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number eleven:

"When you do, what you have to do at the time you have to do it, You will be once more able to what you want at the time you want to do it."

(translated by me. This one was a difficult one, as I almost used 'when' all the time.)

Picture update

Trying to stay healthy, eating some vitamins, omega and calcium&Magnesium. 

Making some tea. I have some options. I have now the mix that is in the lady grey box. The two bags are black tea and green mint tea. 

This is how I usually store my tea :))

I use sweeteners in my tea. Either sugar or honey. This time I have honey.  

Christmas Calender 10th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number ten:

"Something good can be said of everyone. We just need to say it out loud."

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 9th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number nine:

"Courage is that one is brave enough to go beyond familiar"

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 8th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number eight:

"But no-one has more fun than what they themselves make." -Tove Jansson

(translated by me, I replaced the he/she with they, as in finland one word covers it all. I think the meaning still stayed the same. Also I so agree with this! You make your own fun and happiness! Time to look at the mirror if you are not happy.) 

Christmas decoration

This is my Christmas calender and also the only Christmas decoration I have. Like I said it contains positive sayings in it in Finnish. So that's why it says "translated by me" underneath every text. If it is a quote, I have written the owner of the quote as well.

Christmas Calender 7th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number seven:

"Be happy of the gifts given by life, with a brave mind, with a smile, look at the dawning day"

(translated by me)

Crocheting

Can you guess what I am doing. Let me tell you although making the square at first was easy and fun, it started to feel tiring after a while.

Tadah! Almost finished. It took me forever to connect the squares till this point. After this till it is finished took me a whole day. 

Almost finished. Just need to do the rim. Quite blue still. The red is not popping out as much as I had hoped for.

Finished! See what I did there! The white-green balls really light it up. I think the girl I am going to give this to is not going to mind the blueness now. Well she is such a small baby still that I think she won't mind at all :)

Happy Independence Day Finland!

Today is the 96th birthday of independent Finland. Some say that it is the remembrance day of independence as part of of the independence has been lost to the EU. I totally agree with this, that we are not our own country anymore in the sense of the full independence. We do not have our own money. We still use our own flag and hymn. The EU does have its own flag and hymn though, so it is only matter of time when we loose them too. I like to calm down and remember what my grandparents had to endure during the WW II. The ware was in Finland in two parts, which means that we had a period of peace in middle of the world war. One of my grandmothers was sent to Sweden as a war child, one of my grandfathers lied about his age and went to fight the ware (the second part as during the first part he and his family had to leave home). All Finnish people were relocated to Finnish soil during the WW II from the areas we lost in the first part. Some went back after we gain some ground in the second part but due to the ruling we had to give the lost areas back to Russia and they had to relocate again. 

As mentioned before I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number six:

"When you have a friendly thought, express it. Give it a breath of life. Do it in practice."

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 5th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number five:

"No place is too small for great deeds" -V.A. Koskenniemi

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 4th hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number four:

"There is not enough darkness in the world to even erase the light of one small candle" -Marian Wright Edelman

(translated by me, so it might differ a bit from the original)

Christmas Calender 3rd hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number three:

"To the world you are just somebody, but to somebody you are the world. Don't dream of living, live your dream"

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 2nd hatch

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number two:

"May every morning be waited by joy, every rising sun faced with courage"

(translated by me)

Christmas Calender 1st hatch

Hatch? Really?? Well did not find a better word so it will do. 

I received a calender from my friend with positive things in it. It is a Positiivarit christmas calender. So here is what I found under the hatch number one:

"Everything that is worth something in this country, starts from heart not from head"

(Translated by me)

Christmas gifts (for myself)

I have just bought six new DVD's of Classic Who for myself. I have still quite a lot to go until I have them all (that are in DVD form). Due to the loss of the episodes there are no season sets that can be bought. Well there is only one season (season 16) that can be bought as a whole. But other classic seasons are in bits linked with the story. This means that watching them in the order of release might not be possible. I might by another gift for myself later, but now I had to jump at the change to get some of the cheaper episodes. Yay!

Galaxy Nexus problems

I have been having problems with my phone lately and I have had to search internet for information on how to fix them. I do not have a phone from any operator, so they cannot help be fix it per se. Also I have had my phone for almost 1,5 years, which means that the guarantee is closed (it was for one year). How am I not surprised that once the guarantee closes the phone starts to break. 

So first problem that I have had for few weeks now maybe closer to month is that one of my chargers (which I use with PC) is not working with my Nexus. It works fine with other phone. So I have had to change the cord; luckily I have three of them. Continuing on this problem few weeks back my phone started to show that it is still charging while it actually was not charging. I had to take my screensaver away as it ate my battery. I have noticed that the phone does still keep coming alive showing my slide to unlock screen; sometimes it comes alive every minute and sometimes once in a while. Don't know what is causing this. 

Second problem is that when I reboot my phone it eats a  lot of battery. I have seen once that it went from about 50% to 11% and I had to recharge it again. Then when I went to see the report [on Battery app] it showed that once I had hooked it up it went up to 50% and continued to charge from there. I was out and about yesterday and my phone went from 100% charged to 0% in about 3,5 hours. The discharging is most likely caused by the first problem or some background process. Online I have found in few places that the reason might be a hardware problem and that you cannot fix it yourself. Some say that you can fix this with an app. Others say that it is because of the mini-usb thingy is a bit loose and you can FIY with a knife. I have tried to jimmy the little tongue up a bit, but it has not brought a definite fix. Maybe slowed down a bit the blinking. So still an ongoing process.

Third problem is that sometimes when I close my phone (shut it down I mean) it restarts by itself. There is no way the phone should be doing this, but somehow it is. I have fixed this by taking the battery out and putting it back in. So my conclusion is that there has been a background process that has forced the phone to open up again. 

Fourth problem is that the phone stays unresponsive. This can happen if I am using the phone or when it has been idle for awhile. The start/close button is useless in these cases and I have to take the battery out to be able to use the phone again. Sometimes it takes time when it has been in idle mode to wake up and even my computer does not recognize the phone. For this I read that someone who had had the same problem had to choose the screen brightness not to be automatic. Something in the automatic process jams the phone. So I have not chosen the half bright option. Lets see if that helps at all.

Fifth problem is that the top area (where the camera is) warms up occasionally. I am not quite sure what causes it. It might be that it is because of the first problem i.e. the flickering screen. Which my phone just started to do again. This time twice a minute. Well almost twice a minute. Just blinking. Oh, now it stopped, no it didn't. Well anyway I think that blinking takes so much energy that it heats up the phone. Usually if I watch something or have been talking with someone for a long time the phone heats up, but it is more that the whole phone is warm. Now only the top part of the phone is warm. *Gosh! Stop blinking already*

Maybe sixth problem. This actually is most likely a problem with the operator and not with the phone. I tried to call my sister and the phone did not carry any voice over to me. My sister however heard me loud and clear. I tried my other phone where I have my finnish connection at the moment, and it did not work with the Wind connection. Bummer. It did work on my work phone, but the same problem still stayed.

So it seems that I might need to buy a new phone. I had hoped that I could use my other phone, but as the Wind connection is not able to use it that option is out. I am just thinking what kind of a phone should I get. I am not happy that the phone only lasted this little while. I am used to keeping my phones for years and not changing them after a year. Oh, well it is a smart phone so I can't expect them to last long. The only thing is that if the phone dies, and I start using my work phone as a backup, then I am not able to use WhatsApp or Line. Annoying to have phone problems. 

The Day of the Doctor 2D, second viewing

I watched the 50th anniversary show again just a moments ago online (legally). I have to say that to me the second time around was much better. Although I missed the goofs in the beginning of the movie, as they were not shown now, the show itself seemed to be much entertaining. I think I might need to see it the third time soon (if I haven't gone over my 10 G limit for this month) as I was not able to get enough. I am glad I watched it again, as now few of the words I missed the first time due to clapping and cheers from the audience, I hear them clearly. I was very proud of myself that I did not wake up my landlord and her family, as it is indeed in middle of the night as I am writing this. I will postdate this another day, so that my blog won't be filled with posts everyday. 

Anyway, still missed Eccleston. I think it would not have harmed him anyway to be in this. I did see him in Thor, so now I can try to combine these two movies. I also confirm few mishaps or cuts in the movie. No-one is perfect right! It is an annoying when you see something big go wrong as it does break the magic a bit. Luckily there was no big mistakes in this one. I refuse to say there are any big mistakes. Anyhow, I strike the earlier comment that the episode was not perfect and that it was slow at times. I say it is good. It is all good! I can't wait till the Christmas episode comes out!  

The difficulty of writing a blog post

It is easy to write when you have certain topic in front of you. But as I usually write something that happens to me or what I have done, writing is a bit more dreadful. As you can see from the blog I have started to write about things that I have an opinion on. Just random stuff that I have seen somewhere and instead of talking about it there, I have decided to use my blog. Just because when you write something on a forum there is usually someone who does not agree with you, and then attacks your comment. I am not trying to convey others that I am right, I am just writing what I think. There is a big difference there. It would be really easy, if I would be provided a list of topics of which to write. That would be so superb. 

Death: what is your reaction to it?

I know how I react to it. To my surprise not many have actually thought about it. Some how the nowadays way of living lets people think that death is not a part of it. It is so funny! Really people! Wake up! Death is as natural as giving birth. We are all going to die at some point. Some of us will die by their own hand, some by accident, some of disease and others by old age. I am lucky to have seen people die of old age, with some disease with them, but ultimately the reason has been the old age. I have also seen people die because of some disease, usually cancer, and being bed ridden for many months before dying. I have also seen dead people, as in my religion it is custom that the casket is open during funeral. 

I have followed couple of discussion lately and they have this fear of death part of it. Mainly I blame the current society for it. People are not spending time with their elderly, and have "forgotten" that getting old and dying is part of life. In US there is this trend that people go to have some nip tuck when they feel they are getting old. I remember the many talks that I had with my grandmother about what she wanted to do before dying and what her funeral should be like. Unfortunately she did not write those down, and I was not listened to, so her funeral was not what she wanted. Basically I already know that if I want to have certain type of funeral I need to write very specific instructions and have them allocated to a person who can follow through. 

These discussions and the fact that I have visited my grandparents regularly has kept my feet in the ground and I am very well aware what awaits me when I get old. Well how about a sudden accident or disease? Those are something that people can't that well be prepared for. I might be a bit different as I have already from very early on been able to imagine myself and my family members in situations like these. They are not pleasant things to be thinking about, but my imagination has kept me very well prepared. So if a family member or a friend would suddenly die for some reason, I would not be shocked. If I would get the news that I would die soon, I would not be shocked. I just hope that it won't happen, but most likely before I die I will have attended to a funeral or two. 

I know that most people do have this healthy reaction and awareness of death, but since it has been made to be this big tabu, people are not talking about it. I have talked about it with my Aunt and she has told me that her then husband was really uncomfortable with the death discussion. To us it is very important discussion that needs to be had if you are in a relationship. But it is something that if I see people are not comfortable or willing to talk about death, I will not force it. I just wish that people would be more open about it. Maybe then assisted suicide i.e. euthanasia would be more acceptable.  

The Day of the Doctor 3D

Just to be sure that I would get a good seat, I went to the theater about three hours early. Just to be sure to get a good seat. I also bought some snacks so that I would be able to sit the five hours in one place. I did not take too much to drink, as I knew I might not be able to go to the toilet as I did not want to loose my seat. I was not the first person to arrive there, nor were there a line. Surprisingly the theater had decided to not show anything else in that hall/showing room what ever, and let everybody in as they came. Good decision as now people just came in and choose the seats. Depending on the size of the group, some would go then to pick up food while others reserved the seats. So very good for them. I probably could have gone if I just had left my jacket and snacks there, but I didn't want to take the risk, that there would be some idiot changing my seat. Don't really think any proper whovian would do so, but there were newbies in the audience. I heard people say that they have started watching the series since the fourth i.e. beginning of Matt's and have not bothered to watch the earlier once "because they are not as good". So not a proper whovian. 

But to the movie itself now. OMG. Not as good as hyped, but unbelievable still. It was a bit more slow than I would have thought when it was advertised as this big war thing. Well there was a war no denying it, but it was playing the third fiddle. Second fiddle was played by the sub plot between the 10th and the Elisabeth I. Main was the three doctors or should I say two doctors and a warrior. As it has been said before that the numbering will not change, so we cannot say that Hurt would be the Doctor. He has been said to be the Warrior by eight and the war doctor by Moffat. I think I will just call him the Warrior as then there is no confusion of who we are talking about.

All doctors did get their own little snippet in the movie, cut from their original time i.e. shown as they are remembered excluding of course 10 and 11 who were there to film their own parts. So sad that Eccleston did not want to portray the ninth, as he is my favorite. At least there was the cut of him from his original time. There were certain things that were put in the movie as a commemorative to the classic seasons and the now gone companions. There was a first in this movie, but I will not say what it was. I am just glad I saw this in the theater as now I did not have to applaud by myself. Really there were more than once that everybody applauded. It was so good. Can't wait till Christmas to see the final episode of Matt and get to know the new doctor. 

Break-ups and divorces

I have no idea what is going on! So many couples that I know have broken up. There are two divorces that are going on at the moment, one separation or a "time-out" and two have broken up with their boyfriends. All this in the last six months. Weird! Two of the couples I know have children and one couple had talked about getting married before the break up. Of course I know that people break up and divorce daily, but people that I know don't usually do it at the same time. 

I am just hoping all the best for my friends and hope that their life is going to be a bit more sunny now. For some I know that the decision was a good one, as the partner was not a very trustworthy (so the break-up is because of something they did). Me and one of my friends talked about this, as her co-worker also said that they know quite many people as well who have broken up. We wondered what the hell is wrong with men, because in most cases it is how they behave that has lead to the end result. I can't say of all the break ups as I do not know the details, but so far it is not looking good for men. 

Travel check list

I got news that my flight won't happen like planned. So I okey'd the change (like I had any other choice) and got a new a later flight. So now I will be spending three hours at Atlanta airport. I could go to downtown, but I am just a little bit worried that it is not enough time. I need to go through the security check and then travel to the correct gate, also I would need to take a subway to the downtown. So I think it would take at least 1,5 hours just to do that, closer to two hours with a return trip as I would be going during the rush hour. So I would have an hour to eat somewhere and then go back. Undecided about it at the moment.

But to the check list:

Update Esta: check

Inform friend of the flight change: check

Ask about Christmas plan: not done yet

Get Christmas presents: not done yet

Buy luggage spot: not done yet

I am thinking if I should just give them money as Christmas present... I am not sure. 

Thor: The dark world

I saw it last Tuesday! Yay! Very good movie for a superhero movie. Complimented the universe that it is in very well. For those who are not so interested in it, or have just seen the first Thor, this movie might not be as good. Well those who are not interested in this, probably did not even go to see it. But if you did not see the Avengers movie, you might miss few of the jokes. For those who are following the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series, do not worry  you are not missing anything if you do not watch the movie. The "crossover" episode is not quite up to the hype if you ask me. I do like the series otherwise. 

Back to the movie in question. There were few  reasons why I decided to watch it in the theater. One being that it is an avenger movie and another being that ninth doctor is in it! Yay! So I can say I have seen the doctors from 8 to 11 on screen :)) Well the eight will be only on my laptop because it was a prequel to the movie, but anyway. 

So I am going to buy the movie when I have the chance, just because I want to have all the avenger movies. I already have the two Hulk and Ironman movies, so you see I am a bit behind. One day I will look all of them in order... 

What I find interesting: History

Here is a small video of Karelian history: http://youtu.be/eAGT6IQTB4Q

Illuminati Toronto 2013

Christmas: the budget killer

You remember how I said I had the bare minimum saved for Jan and Feb. Well...someone forgot that the Christmas presents have to be bought this month and also sent this month to make it in time. Also I need to send one Birthday present, and that I need to send within few days. Luckily I have savings so I am not worried.  Also I have my credit card that I can use next year if I need to.

Forgetting the password

Argh! I got paid today (hopefully), and I was supposed to transfer the rent and some expenses here today. But no. I know the password but apparently I am not writing it right. I tried it that many times, that the password attempt has been locked. So now I have to wait until it is Monday in Finland as the bank is closed already. Argh I tell ya!

Hope is not all lost, as if I would transfer the money now, it still would not be processed until Monday. It just annoys me so much that I cannot do it now. I totally forgot that today was payday, so once I remembered it I wanted to take care of the thing right away. Also I would have liked to check that I indeed have been paid. Not knowing is the worst. 

I am under too much stress at the moment. Going back to hit my head on the wall i.e. to work.

Picture update

Crocheting roses

Christmas is here

See, there is Santa

Elfs

Eaton Center's Christmas decoration

They are really big!

Earlier production (only been doing these for a month now)

I baked these. I took these to my friend as she was a bit ill. We put half to the freezer, so that she can offer some to the friends that come visit her later. 

Baking and visiting friends

Last night I baked two tiger cakes and two apple pies. Now before you think I was being super active, I made the same amount of dough that I normally would in Finland. The plates, the things, what ever they are called, were too small so I had to divide the dough in two to make it all. I'll upload a picture later.

Today I went to see a friend in another city with another friend. We took some food with us, as the friend we were going to meet had had some back problems and had been to hospital. So we decided to make the visit really easy for her (and her baby) by bringing our own food. 

We had a really nice day speaking Finnish the whole day :) We also made some plans for future baking and visits. If we are lucky we will be able to have a finnish baking day before Christmas :)

School worries

So today I had my class again. Today we received feedback on our papers. OMG, the teachers were so brutal at times. I tried not to listen too much when they were just saying this is not good, that is not good. I was so worried that I barely slept last night. I woke up before the alarm clock rang. Then just waited till the school started. Sat and waited. Crocheted yet another flour. 

Finally when it was my turn, I gave a pre-emptying strike! I told that I am well aware that my paper is not what it is supposed to be based on the feedback I received yesterday. Hah! In your face teachers. So they were more nice to me, because I already said I was bad. They are still worried about the size of my case company... I haven't told them yet that I will be out of work soon. 

12 years a slave

What a movie! A bit too long for my taste, but very good snapshot of slavery. Amazing actors and acting, sometimes this is not the case. In some parts, that were especially taunting, you could hear the audience shuffle. Sure signs of a good movie. I think you all have already heard of what the movie is about and who the actors are, so I am not going to write a wrong post about it. I am not a movie blogger, you see. Good movie to see in theater, but also good movie to see at home. If you are sensitive, you might want to see it at home as then you can pause the movie if needed. Definitely a must see movie.

Argh! Part very many

Just read a feedback on my thesis (it is very early version) and it is really bad. I thought I had improved on it, but apparently not. So motivation, the little I had of it, just flew out. Tomorrow in class I am supposed to listen the other two teachers ram it down too. Really don't want to go to the class. Because of that I don't want work either. It's just because at the moment the school tasks and work is just the same thing. It sucks!

Argh! I want to get rid of this work and the school! I need to find a motivation and I need to find something that will keep me in class tomorrow. Hopefully they won't ask me to speak, because I have no idea what I could say. Nay I have very good idea what I might say and it is not good. My head is exploding!

How to spend money?

Rant warning. Just watched a tv show called till debt do us part. It is about couples who do not know how to handle their money or more precisely debt. I do have to say that we are lucky in Finland with the free education, so the student loan does not rise to the amounts that were in question in the show. Still there are many ways to increase the debt like was shown in the show. 

So basically it showed the couple who had lots of debt and no plan to pay it back. They were both in good income job, but still were able live so that it was not enough. First they were asked to write down what do they think they spend money on (credit card, rent, food, utility,etc.). They got the credit card debt correct, but were wrong about the interest. They only calculated the informed amount, and did not consider the other fees to be part of it. The thing to remember is that the fees do not decrease the debt, so if you pay just the fees and interest, you will still have the same debt. They also thought they did not spent as much money in cash, while the reality was that most of their expenses was made with cash. 

Really? It just seems that people have lost the focus on how to use money. The couple in the show spent closer to six thousand dollars per month, and that includes the interest and fees for the debt but not real down payment. Then they were given the budget of 1700 dollars for a month and specific instructions on what can they use the money. They had the budget divided per week installments. So in that one month they already saved about four thousand dollars towards their debts. As a reward for doing all the tasks and following the program they got a reward of five thousand dollars toward their debt. 

Now it is difficult for me to say what to do when one has larger amount of debt like the couple had, as I only have one credit card debt with the lowest amount it can be. I think it is that because I am used to not having that much money, that I can handle my own situation. So maybe it is that when you have that kind of an income that you can just buy anything that you forget that there actually is a limit. Especially if you just trust that the other person does the calculation on what is spent and where. 

The show gave the option of using only cash for the month, and cut all the credit cards and debit card. It is a good idea, as it will stop you from using the credit cards. I don't quite understand cutting the debit card though. It is good idea to have cash for the week. Not too much cash, and it has to last for the week. What I do is that I transfer most of my income into savings account and then transfer certain amount for the week into the checking account. I also go to the store two times a week and to movies or to other amusement thing once a week. Now I am saving to have living expenses for the few first months of the next year. So far so good, I have already saved the bare minimum I need, so all the rest is just extra. Also it helps that now I don't need to calculate that much how much I spent on the xmas presents for the kids.

Work stress

Argh! It is just so stressful to work, when your boss does not answer any of your questions. I see how things are going... I send him ton of email and he only replies when he needs something. But for me to do my work properly, I would need the constant feedback from him about how things are going. But no! Nothing! I have reported him that I receive these error messages, but he does not reply or acknowledge the problem at all. 

Only thing I am thinking is that I need to survive few more months and then I'll know when my job ends. The stress is just building up now, that there is no communication between me and my boss. On top of all that I am trying to do my thesis... 

When things don't go as planned

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night for no reason. I tried to fall asleep, but it was not easy. Then of course I was not able to wake up when I was supposed to, but I slept till noon. So half of my day was ruined already. Now I have tried to do my work, but it seems that my messages are not sent out. So it feels not useful to do anything. I am also supposed to write my thesis, but at the moment there is so much work, that I am not sure I have energy for it. I was supposed to go the library early in the morning, but still I am at home. 

Argh, don't you just hate it, when things don't go as planned!

Halloween

So for Halloween I went out for a walk. Yeah, I know crazy me! I wanted to see if people would actually go out. Indeed, I was not disappointed. There were quite many children in their costumes walking around almost door to door asking for candy. Well the correct term I believe is Trick or Treat. I was surprised that not that many houses were decorated. There were a pumpkin on half of the houses (either as a lantern or a picture in the window), but really decorated ones were rare. 

Also it was quite dark to see some of the decorations, because there was no light directed at them. There was one house where they used lights to show the decorations. Also it might be that because it was a bit rainy, that many decided not to bother. I'm sorry that there will be no pictures in this post, but as I said it was quite dark. The pictures did not come out at all. 

I did not dress up when I went out. I did have my skull bag with me so I wasn't that out of character. What else halloweeny have I done.. Oh, I have eaten a ton of candy. Well not a ton, but my fare share of it. I just simply love Candy Corn (the specific kind). 

Writing my thesis

We have already started writing the Master's thesis as part of one of our last courses. One could say that we have started the thesis already from the first course, but since I have not had the subject at the time I have not been able to use the first courses to do my thesis. Anyway, now it has officially started. I have written few pages of my introduction and have preliminary TOC. Now I need to write my methodology chapter. 

My problem is that I need to find information via internet, and I have not been able to find good or valid sources yet. So annoying. I would love to just go to the school library and search for the information. Not possible this year, unless I go to the local school library, where they would through me out. I have not yet been to the public library, but I do know where it is. 

My problem is that my subject is not quite what I would want to write about. Or to be more specific my case company is not very good one. Some good news, my supervisor seems to like my topic. I have returned one version (the intro with toc) which received quite bad review and the teachers were a bit worried. So I did some improvement and sent it to my supervisor (whom I just had received). Now I have til next Wednesday to write more and improve more. No panic... Or maybe just a little bit.

I do have to say I have wonderful classmates, as we are rooting for each other. Normally only a fraction of the class has graduated at the same time. Since the first year, we have not lost any classmates. 26 started and now there is 16 left. We are breaking the school records, just by being still together. If most of us graduate in time, it is miracle (according to the teachers). So this in mind, that we are so close and help each other is wonderful. I think it is that we understand what the others are going through, with studying and working at the same time. Sometimes the studies requires so much, that there is no free time.  

Carrie, 2013 version

I think I said one time that I will not go see another movie based on Stephen King, as they have not been able to make any good ones in recent years. Well, I broke that promise. What can I say! I love Carrie, the book and the original movie (previous part one, have not seen the part two). I also love it that they have Julianne Moore in this movie. I also was happy to see Chloë Grace Moretz in the titular role. 

I read somewhere that Lindsay Lohan was hoped to be in the titular role. I think I might have not seen the movie then. I think she is a bit too old to play a 16 year old girl. Now I was happy that the actor actually was young and not older one. As I have mentioned earlier I have trouble watching horror movies because I am so disappointed with them. So this time, I just thought that I am going to see a thriller. That worked. I was not disappointed at all, nor was I scared (because it was not a horror movie). It was a good thriller, although knowing the book and previous movie did not help. It did not do any harm either, like sometimes you might not like the movie because you have read the book earlier. 

I'd put this movie to 'watch if you like (add actors name)' list. You might want to watch this if you are a King fan, but if you are a King fan then you probably have seen all the remakes of Carrie (original, sequel, remake, theater version and now this) and you might only get the dvd from sale. If you have a bunch of people who would like to go see this, then go to the movies. Otherwise I say wait for the DVD. For Halloween fun, this might be the only thing you can go and watch. There was Christine also available in the place where I watched Carrie, so you might be able to watch some oldies but for sure Carrie is available for Halloween.  

Complaining about pain

When I was growing up, I was told that one should not complain about small pains. Only complain about big pains. So basically I was taught that I myself am not able to tell when the pain is big and when it is small, but the adult to whom I told would make the assessment by saying 'It does not hurt that much', It's just a small pain, stop complaining', 'Stop it it did not hurt that much', or even 'See I did the same thing to myself and it did not hurt at all!' and so on. 

I think I have the normal pain level, it is not higher than others. I just don't talk about it. I have told to my closest friends, about this being the reason why I don't complain. It just seems to others I think, that not saying that I am in pain means that I am not in pain. It just seems weird to me to say it all the time. Also the pain is not hindering my way of life in a way that I would not be able to live. I have had few occasions where I have not been able to walk, because of the pain in my knee or back. But usually with time, rest and little bit of stretching, I am back to normal. 

I am writing about this issue, because to me quite many people eat pain killers for nothing. Daily does of pain killers is not normal. I eat pain killers rarely. I think for this year, I have eaten painkillers maybe three times or four. I am trying to remember if I did have some in the beginning of the year, but I can't remember. So I am counting it in as a yes. So even though my leg was hurting, I did not eat pain killers. I ate magnesium which helped and also lots of vitamins, which helped also. So basically I gave my body what it needed and when the healing started the pain went away (mostly, not all). But to my experience unless you have an infection what some of the pain killers can help heal, there are other things you can do to make the pain go away. 

Now before someone inhales the pea and the pod, I only mean this daily in take of pain killers when it is not needed. There are many things that can happen that require a person to take pain killers to be able to live. It is valid to take some in these cases. I mean the type that take the pain killer in the morning because of a headache that might or might not come because they slept too little because they did not go to bed in time. Or take the pain killer so that they will sleep better. That I do not understand at all! You can take herbal remedies to have the same affect and you do not need to poison yourself with pain killers. Yes, pain killers are poison... They block the information flow in your body i.e. poison. 

You can get addicted to pretty much anything. Coffee, coke (and pepsi) all have caffeine in them which is addictive substance. Not to forget sugar and chocolate. The problem is that when people eat pain killers like candy, they start to eat too much and mix different types. It still surprises me, how people still misuse the pain killers, while there has been so many reports about deaths of people (also stars) who have died because of mix-matching  the pain killers.  

Article about raising children

I just read an article in yellow press (iltalehti) that says that children will mimic the behaviour of their parents. So if you have ill behaving parents, the children will behave badly. This was all based on the persons who wrote the original article (have not read it because there was no direct link to it, but it was on Huffington post) experience. Well I would go as far as to say that I agree to a certain point. But having followed people myself, I can tell that this is not the full truth. I am nothing like my mother, and I was nothing like my mother growing up. Quite many of my friends behave differently compared to their parents. 

What I have gathered is that the lack of responsibility by the parent usually causes the behavior that the article was talking about. When the child's behavior is not corrected by the parent, then the child will continue behaving the way they think is normal. Simple. So while mimicking does contribute to a certain extent the other part is what the parent does and teaches. Really I am surprised that they made such an article with so little reference and study. It was more of an blog post where someone told what they thought. 

Other thing that people are saying, that is the new thing in raising children is routines. Really?? How were these parents raised? Just asking, because my sister and sister in law have known this from the start. No-one told them that they need to establish routines for the children. My sister actually is complaining because some do not follow the routines that she has established for the children. To me too this kind of an obvious one. I think one reason why this comes as surprise to so many, is because the childbearing age has gone up. Nowadays people have children when they are older and have forgotten what it was like to be a child. Also their own parents are older and live further away. 

There is no longer one village raising the child like what it was in the old days. Partly the problems that the current teenagers have is caused because they are raised without the support of the whole village. So when they are finding out the realities of life, the pressure gets to them. Before there was the idea that if something happens, there is the village that you can turn into for help. Now it is only the parents whom against the teenager is trying to fight against, meaning that the teenager is all alone. Now all this is my opinion, and I do not expect this to be found in any newspaper, hence to references but just my thoughts. 

Gravity 3D IMAX

Amazing movie with only a few corny bits. I will be really surprised if this movie does not win an oscar as to me it is indeed the best movie of the year. It is an emotional ride for many to watch the movie, so be prepared. I would assume that this will be a good watch at home as well, but for the extra spacey feeling, go see it in the theater. If you don't like Sandra Bullock, be aware she is on screen a lot. However this movie is nothing like what she has done before. I actually like that she has started to do more serious movies and not just comedy. I highly, highly recommend you to see this movie. Weather it is in 3D or not, this is a must see movie. 

Work, work and little bit more work

Last Monday was the last day I did not do overtime. Since then I have not done under 9 hour days. Well except during weekends, which are normally my days off. Now I did few hours, just because there is so much work to do. Usually I try to answer all that has come in during one day, but it is just not possible at the moment. Also I need to write a school paper, which I did start yesterday. I just haven't found the right words to end it. It is about management control in our company... See my dilemma.

I think I will need to think about it more next, as it is due tomorrow midnight Finnish time. So if I finish it now, I won't have to be calculating the time difference and worrying about the return. Also I need to read others papers for other course, and check the feedback I received. So busy!

Canada's Wonderland

Small picture update

First picture is the type of food I have been eating lately. I was supposed to make makaroni casarol, but was too tired to do it. So I mixed this up.

The second picture is of my Jack. He is keeping me hydrated as you can put at least 5,5 dl in him.